This story was originally published spring/summer 2025 issue of Shidler Business.

Sometimes circumstances choose our path forward. For TIM School Associate Professor of Travel Industry Management and Hee Foundation Endowed Fellow Lenna Shulga, her journey to academia was happenstance. Shulga was born in Ukraine and several decades ago, she and her family immigrated from Russia. She landed her first job in America after connecting with a woman who also had a young child and was the daughter of a Japanese immigrant. The bed and breakfast owner hired Shulga on the spot as a front desk girl.

Shulga reflects that those early days in Cambridge, Massachusetts, provided her family with the flexibility needed to establish roots. When the small bed and breakfast expanded, adding a boutique hotel and an events venue, so did her hospitality skills. She went on to hold management positions at Hilton and Extended Stay America Hotels and discovered she enjoyed the fast-paced nature of hospitality and was pretty good at customer service.

Before long, Shulga desired to advance her hospitality career and earned her master’s in business administration at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. One of her professors suggested she pursue her doctorate. She concurred it was a good idea and headed west to attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). While studying at one of the country’s premier hospitality schools, the seed was planted for Shulga to mentor the next generation.

“My advisor and mentor at UNLV inspired, guided and supported my academic journey,” she said. “It is important to have great mentors in your life. And I am inspired to be one.”

Practice Meets Pedagogy

Shulga’s humble beginnings coupled with her passion for the industry and the desire to give back were all factors leading her to the classroom. When the School of Travel Industry Management (TIM School) offered her a position in 2017, it was a natural choice for her to accept.

“UH has an excellent reputation as a first-tier research institution that is known around the globe,” she said. “Located in the world’s top travel destination, the TIM School has a recognized brand and is well established as a center for research and scholarship.”

Since becoming a professor specializing in hospitality human resources management and organizational behavior, Shulga has embraced and leaned on her personal experiences in the industry. She enjoys applying those lessons and sharing stories with her students. She believes in maintaining strong connections with Hawai‘i’s visitor industry and often creates industry-related projects. She also invites speakers into the classroom.

Another vital skill she weaves into the curriculum is critical thinking, which can be a daunting task in the age of artificial intelligence. “No matter whether you have AI or robots, you still have people who manage those and you need to know how to manage people,” she says.

She uses impactful teaching methods to prepare students for their future careers, including a case-study approach modeled after Harvard Business School. Students analyze a business scenario to identify organizational problems and their root causes. Then they develop best, worst and balanced case solutions and present the pros, cons and next steps. Students also conduct simulations. In human resources classes, they imitate collective bargaining between a labor union and hotel management. In her strategic management courses, the simulations include making decisions about growth strategies for an online travel agency.

Entering into her ninth year of teaching at the TIM School, Shulga believes that leadership and financial analysis skills are essential for future hospitality professionals. There are many soft skills related to being a good manager, such as communication, strategic thinking, delegation, emotional intelligence, accountability and self-awareness. And without financial acumen, Shulga says career progression will stall.

Shulga is also a core faculty member in TIM School’s Ph.D. program. She’s been invaluable in shaping curriculum, co-teaching courses and recently organized a campus-wide workshop with renowned scholar Joe Hair. Shulga earned the 2025 Shirley M. Lee Research Award for her contributions and she’s received the Professor of the Semester honor five times since 2019, as well as the 2024 Best Paper Award at the West Federation CHRIE Conference.

The Human Side of Hospitality

Shulga’s research drives a large portion of her curriculum and although she has numerous topics that inspire her research, there are recent interests that stand out with exciting implications for the field. One introduced emotional investment, a concept in the hospitality industry revealing that employees—especially managers—develop a strong emotional connection to their work and organizational success.

“When employees are emotionally invested, they are more engaged, provide better customer services and they are more committed to their organizations,” she said. “They also improve their personal resilience. All in all, being emotionally invested in work is a good thing.”

Shulga has taken a deep dive into what's involved in managing talent. Through five studies conducted on talent management—three of which focused on hospitality employees in Hawai‘i including TIM alumni—she found that 95% of employees view themselves as “talented.” This insight supports the need for inclusive talent management systems that recognize and develop skills across all levels. A new project she is working on with Kwanglim Seo, associate professor of TIM, and Dan Spencer, director and professor of TIM, analyzes current and future skill gaps in Hawai‘i’s hospitality workforce and proposes strategies to address them.

Shulga’s journey from her first job in the bed and breakfast many years ago to where she stands today has come full circle. She’s had countless experiences allowing her to share stories with her students. “You need to become an expert in something,” she said.

Aside from the pragmatic advice, Shulga says the journey is meant to be enjoyed and that hospitality is incredibly rewarding. It’s fast-paced, diverse and presents the opportunity to create special memories.

“It is important to have great mentors in your life. And I'm inspired to be one.”